Green Party leader and Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has praised Media Minister Catherine Martin’s handling of the RTÉ crisis.
Mr Ryan also said addressing the funding of the media in Ireland would be the “most critical decision” taken by the Government in the first quarter of 2024.
Ms Martin, who is the Greens’ deputy leader, was at the forefront of the political response when the national broadcaster RTÉ became embroiled in a financial crisis initially stemming from incorrectly declared fees to its then-highest-paid earner, Ryan Tubridy.
In the aftermath of the fallout over Tubridy’s pay, a string of other financial and governance issues emerged that led to the resignation of a number of senior figures, and a multimillion-euro drop in TV licence payments.
Mr Ryan said Ms Martin had done a “really good job managing her portfolio” as Media Minister.
“I think RTÉ – no-one could have easily managed that, and I think actually she took the right approach,” he said.
“I think you could have had a minister waded in there on the first day and said ‘I’m going to be in charge of everything here’, and I think she did the correct thing.
“She relied on her chair and board and new chief executive to deliver the reports we need and the analysis we need to make sure we position RTÉ for the future. I think that approach has been fully supported in Government.
“I think it is critical, if I look forward into next year, what is the most important thing Government have to do? I think probably one of the very top of that list is addressing future funding of broadcast and media in Ireland.
“It isn’t just RTÉ, it is requirement for funding which will go into other broadcasters and other media.”
In November, the Government agreed to provide a total of 56 million euro in additional funding to help RTÉ cover budget shortfalls after the organisation published plans to reduce its workforce.
Ms Martin said a dedicated unit would be established in her department to oversee the allocation of €40 million of that funding in 2024.
Mr Ryan said the future funding model for broadcasters would be a top Government priority in the beginning of the new year.
“The first most important thing is – can we get an agreed approach to fund our broadcasters given what I was saying earlier, that one of the biggest challenges to stage is disinformation,” he said.
“AI creates all sorts of weird material that who knows what’s true, what’s not true.
“That’s a real risk to democratic system and strength of the country, decency. So I think the funding of broadcasting media in that environment is probably the most critical decision we need to make in the first quarter of the year.”
RTÉ director-general Kevin Bakhurst’s plan to cut costs at the organisation included a salary price cap of €250,000 and cuts of up to 400 staff members over four years.
